


(am i) a mandalorian

by ThirteenthMouse6572



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Post-Episode: s02e07 The Believer, Self-Doubt, boba is din's family i don't take any criticism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirteenthMouse6572/pseuds/ThirteenthMouse6572
Summary: Din goes to Boba after the events with Mayfeld
Relationships: Din Djarin & Boba Fett
Comments: 6
Kudos: 129





	(am i) a mandalorian

**Author's Note:**

> i am; crying and i needed to write a fic about the post episode

Din walked into the Slave I aimlessly, not quite sure whether he was entirely there. His helmet was back on, but he could still feel the eyes on his face, his actual face. Not the beskar metal. He’d rather the glares that the beskar got than the bland look the Imperial officer gave him.

And that’s really what it was about, among other things, the fact that the Imperial officer didn’t even realise who or what he was. To the officer, he was just some random transport crew pilot. At least Mayfeld knew who he was, it made it… better in a way. Mayfeld knew how important it was for Din to _not remove the helmet_.

He found himself in the fresher, staring at his own helmet in the mirror. If he looked closer, he could see his helmet reflecting the mirror as well, creating an endless corridor that Din couldn’t look away from. Each iteration of the reflection was warped slightly and, if Din looked closely, he could almost see the faces of his parents, his clan. The faces warped the more he stared, turning into frowns and disappointed stares. He broke the creed. He showed his face. An Imperial officer saw him without the beskar.

Mayfeld saw him. Mayfeld is still alive.

Something in that train of thought stole his breath away and Din fumbled for the release on the base of his helmet, pulling it off and all but throwing it on the ground, wincing at the loud clanking noise as the helmet hit the wall and floor of the fresher, coming to stop somewhere behind Din’s feet.

Din stared at the bottom of the mirror, pretending he couldn’t see his own bare skin.

A knock on the fresher door startled Din, making him turn around and reach for the handle out of instinct, holding the door closed. He kicked the helmet in the process, hitting it against the wall once again.

“Kid, are you okay in there?” Fett’s voice echoed from the other side of the door. “I heard something fall.”

Din opened his mouth to speak, but didn’t say anything. Fett would surely notice the fact that his voice was different. Even if he wanted to speak, he didn’t know what he would say. Is he okay? He failed his clan, his kid, his _family_. He got out without many physical injuries, a bruise or two at most. But he wasn’t in one piece.

Fett knocked again and Din tightened his grip on the doorhandle. “I-I’m fine,” Din choked out, his voice sounding foreign to his own ears.

“You don’t sound fine,” Fett said.

Din looked down at the helmet on the floor, the T-shaped visor looking up at him. He took a deep breath and picked it up, placing it back on his head and ignoring the voice in the back of his head. He opened the door up, looking up at Fett’s helmet. “I’m okay,” Din said.

Fett frowned. “I know that tone of voice from my own father. You may not want to talk about it but acknowledging that you aren’t okay is better than repressing it.”

Din hesitated, avoiding looking directly at Fett. “Do you have… somewhere private we can talk?” he asked, swallowing down the anxiety creeping up his throat. Fett nodded and motioned for Din to follow him.

They ended up in the cockpit, which didn’t really surprise Din; the cockpit of the _Razor Crest_ was where he went to be alone when he picked up bounties (until he picked up the ki– Grogu, who made it his own personal mission to be with Din at all times). Fett sat down in the pilot’s chair, motioning for Din to strap himself into the other one.

Din closed his eyes as Fett started up the launch sequence. His helmet felt wrong on his head. It wasn’t a comforting weight, it was heavy. Beskar wasn’t a particularly light metal, and Din was feeling the full weight of it across his body. He tried to focus more on the feeling of the _Slave I_ breaking the atmosphere and jumping into hyperspace.

Once in hyperspace, the artificial gravity of the ship regulated itself and Din didn’t feel like he was about to meld into the co-pilot seat. He opened his eyes as he heard Fett move in his seat.

“What did you want to talk about?” Fett asked, his voice slightly robotic through the helmet microphone.

Din took a deep breath and reached for his helmet release. He didn’t take it off, but he could see the way Fett’s head tilted slightly at the motion. “Mandalorians aren’t… supposed to show their face to people who aren’t their family. At least, the Mandalorians I lived with did not.” Fett nodded in understanding. “If we break that, we’ve given up the creed, the _Resol’nare_. We’re no longer considered Mandalorian.”

As he lifted the helmet of his head, Din could almost _see_ the confused look Fett gave him. “I took off my helmet in front of non-family. In front of an Imperial Officer, and Mayfeld. The people who saw my face are dead, except…”

“Mayfeld is alive,” Fett said.

Din nodded. “As stated by my creed, I can no longer put the helmet back on when I take it off. I am no longer Mandalorian.” Din kept his head bent as Fett pulled his own helmet off and sat it down on his lap.

“I do not follow the Way as heavily as you do, so I cannot weigh in as to whether or not you _are_ a Mandalorian in the eyes of your clan. However, in my eyes, the only way a Mandalorian loses that title is if they choose to reject it themselves.” Din looked up at him, fingers clenching around the edges. “If you no longer want to be a Mandalorian, then I will respect your wishes.”

Fett placed his helmet back on and stood from his seat. “Whichever path you choose, I am honoured that you trusted me enough to show me your face.”

Din listened quietly as Fett left the cockpit, the door closing behind him. He looked down at the helmet in his hands. Maybe Fett was right. If Fett could take his helmet off around others and still thought of himself as a Mandalorian, Din could as well.

He breathed in slowly and placed the helmet back on his head. This time, it wasn’t suffocating. It was home. It was how he would get back his kid and get rid of Moff Gideon once and for all.

He was a Mandalorian.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! :)
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr [@thirteenthmouse](https://thirteenthmouse.tumblr.com/) or [@mousewithapen](https://mousewithapen.tumblr.com/)


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